Finding Mastery: Conversations With Michael Gervais

This week’s conversation is with Hillary Allen, an endurance athlete and one of the best mountain ultra runners in the world.Hillary’s career as an endurance athlete has not been straightforward. Through injury, setbacks and unexpected challenges, Hillary’s had to re-think what she considers impossible. Early in her career, Hillary earned the nickname “Hillygoat” when she proved her ability to run fast on steep, technical mountain terrain – a style of running known as Skyrunning.  Since then, she has raced all over the world, racking up wins and course records, establishing herself as one of the best mountain ultra runners in the world. In 2017 she had a life threatening accident, where she fell 150 feet off of a ridge-line during a Skyrace in Tromsø, Norway. She was told she would never run again. After several years of rehab and recovery, Hillary made a full recovery and returned to elite level racing, racing some of her longest and most challenging events post-accident.&n

This week’s conversation is with Chris Burkard, an accomplished explorer, photographer, creative director, speaker, and author. Chris travels to pursue the farthest expanses of Earth, working to capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature, while promoting the preservation of wild places everywhere.Layered by outdoor, travel, adventure, surf, and lifestyle subjects, Chris is known for images that are punctuated by untamed, powerful landscapes. Through social media, Chris strives to share his vision of wild places with millions of people, and to inspire them to explore for themselves.His visionary perspective has earned him opportunities to work on global campaigns with Fortune 500 clients, speak on the TED stage, design product lines, educate, and publish a growing collection of books. In this conversation, Chris shares his desire for discomfort and why he continues to choose the road less traveled.----Please support our partners!We're able to keep gr

This week’s conversation is with a legend, Cody Townsend, one of the most awarded skiers in freeskiing history.Cody has evolved from a California beach kid obsessed with the mountains … to now stand atop the pinnacle of the sport.From a successful alpine ski racing career to stunt doubling for Hollywood films, or skiing the “Most Insane Line Ever”, Cody skis some of the most challenging and dangerous lines on the planet - all with an affable nature and a smile on his face.Cody’s latest project, called “The FIFTY,” is in his words, “simple” - it’s a goal he set to try to climb AND ski all fifty of the lines and mountains chronicled in the classic book, “The Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America.”From Alaska to Colorado, California to Baffin Island, these lines are among the most difficult in the world and all of them have at least one historical descent. But no one has skied them all.Cody’s goal is to change that. And in my opinion, there’s no one more suited to do so.He’s about halfway th

This week’s conversation is with Sarah Stein Greenberg, the Executive Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (the “d.school”).For over a decade, she has helped lead the d.school to nurture creative thinkers and doers and help spread the methods of design.Sarah teaches at the intersection of design and social impact - she likes to tinker with old educational formats and adapt them to today’s learners.She has taught the d.school’s foundational class Design Thinking Bootcamp, an experimental course called Design Thinking for Public Policy Innovators, and the long-running, high impact Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability, whose students have gone on to design products and services that have helped over 100 million people worldwide.Sarah is also the author of Creative Acts for Curious People: How to Think, Create, and Lead in Uncoventional Ways.It’s a timely, highly visual resource for people who seek to choose curiosity in the face of uncertainty, filled with ideas a

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Dan Dworkis, an attending emergency physician and professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, where he works at the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center (one of the largest and busiest emergency departments in the country).Before that, he did his training with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency.ER doctors or not, we all face emergencies in our lives– times when we are called on to make a decision to act, or not act – with skill to meet the demands of the moment – whether that’s in an environment of uncertainty, pressure, or even intimacy.Dan believes deeply that all of us can improve how we function under pressure and in doing so perform at our best when we are needed the most. He’s the founder of The Emergency Mind project which helps individuals and teams perform better under pressure both in and out of the emergency department – and that sets the tone for this conversation.----Plea

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Antonio Damasio, a Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology and Philosophy, and Director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Trained as both neurologist and neuroscientist, Antonio has made seminal contributions to the understanding of brain processes underlying affect and consciousness. His work on the role of emotions and feelings in decision-making has made a major impact in neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy. Antonio is considered one of the most eminent psychologists of the modern era - you may be familiar him with from his previous appearance on Finding Mastery - episode 168.Antonio is brilliant... When I speak with him, I find myself on the edge of my seat - my mind expanded and my heart thumbing with excitement for what he’s about to share.I wanted to have Antonio back on to discuss his recent work, which addresses the evolutionary development of mind – the intersection betwe

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. A clinician scholar, she has published more than a hundred peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and commentaries. Anna sits on the board of several state and national addiction-focused organizations.In 2016, she published Drug Dealer, MD – How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop, which was highlighted in the New York Times as one of the top five books to read to understand the opioid epidemic. Anna appeared on the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, an unvarnished look at the impact of social media on our lives.She's also the author of the recently published, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, which explores how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a world where feeling good is the highest good.----Please support our partners!We're able to keep g

This week’s conversation is special. It’s heavy, it’s rich, and it will change you. It’s a two-parter, recorded on two separate occasions, about a year apart.It’s with Corey Coopersmith, known professionally as PunkTheBunny - he’s a singer/songwriter and producer.Born and raised in New York, Corey was a competitive grappler and MMA fighter prior to embarking on his journey with music.For some background, I worked professionally with Corey, over a decade ago, in his MMA days. And let me tell you, he may not be doing it professionally anymore, but he IS a fighter. That’s just who he is.In March of 2020, Corey was hit with COVID19 and it left him with chronic symptoms... for over a YEAR.Part 1 of this episode was recorded in January of 2021. At that point, he had been suffering symptoms from “long haul COVID” for 10 months already... or so we thought.Even after we recorded Part 1, Corey kept getting sicker and sicker, and no one could figure out why.We stayed in touch after our conversation and then I connected

This week’s episode is with David Farrier.David has always been drawn to the stranger side of life, reporting and hosting across a range of news and entertainment programmes for TV3 New Zealand for nearly a decade.For many, David’s name conjures up images of grown men tickling each other in boxing rings. That’s not because it’s a hobby of his, but because his critically-acclaimed 2016 documentary Tickled, which is still cemented firmly in the minds of any who watched it, follows the largely unknown subculture of Competitive Endurance Tickling.Following its release, David was quickly approached by Netflix to create Dark Tourist, an eight-part docuseries about, you guessed it, dark tourism—those who forgo sandy beaches to instead visit places that are historically associated with death and tragedy. His stories from this show are… unbelievable.David now co-hosts Armchaired and Dangerous, a monthly podcast with Armchair Expert’s Dax Shepard and Monica Padman about conspiracy theories, and last year launched

This week’s conversation is with Annie Murphy Paul, an acclaimed science writer.A graduate of Yale University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she is currently a Learning Sciences Exchange Fellow at New America.She is a recipient of the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship, the Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship, and the Bernard L. Schwartz Fellowship at New America. Annie’s TED Talk titled “What We Learn Before We’re Born” has been viewed more than 2.6 million times and her latest book, The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain, offers a new view on how our minds work and how we can think better. In this conversation, we dive into her key findings and insights on, “The Extended Mind.” ----Please support our partners!We're able to keep growing and creating content for YOU because of their support. We believe in their mission and would appreciate you supporting them in return!!To take advantage of deals from our partners, h

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Tony Nader, a medical doctor trained at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a PhD in neuroscience.Tony is a globally recognized expert in the science of consciousness and human development. His training includes internal medicine, psychiatry, and neurology. He’s the successor to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the head of the Transcendental Meditation organization globally. Tony was appointed assistant director of clinical research at MIT, and was a clinical research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He’s conducted research in neurochemistry and neuroendocrinology; the relationship between diet, age, behavior, mood, seasonal influences, and hormonal activity; and the role of neurotransmitter precursors in medicine.In his new book, One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness: Simple Answers to the Big Questions in Life, Tony comprehensively examines what scientists call the “hard” problem of, What is consc

This week’s conversation is with Jay Samit, a dynamic entrepreneur and intrepreneur who is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on disruption and innovation. The former Independent Vice Chairman of Deloitte Consulting, Jay helped grow pre-IPO companies such as LinkedIn, been a Nasdaq company CEO, held senior management roles at EMI, Sony and Universal Studios, pioneered breakthrough advancements in mobile, ecommerce, digital distribution, and spatial reality that are used by billions of consumers every day. Jay raises hundreds of millions of dollars for startups, advises Fortune 500 firms, transforms entire industries, revamps government institutions, and for three decades continues to be at the forefront of global trends.His list of partners and associates reads like a who’s who list of innovators, including: Bill Gates, President Bill Clinton, Pope John Paul II, Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs, Reid Hoffman, David Geffen, Sir Richard Branson, and Paul Allen.And if you’re interested

This week’s conversation is with Carissa Moore, one of the most prolific surfers on the world stage.At age 18, Carissa became the youngest person – male or female – to win a surfing world title and was the first woman to compete in the Triple Crown of Surfing, Hawaii’s most prestigious contest series featuring the world’s best male surfers. This year, Carissa became the first surfer in history to win a WSL world title and Olympic Gold Medal in the same year. This was also the first time the Olympics included surfing as a competition so Carissa was the first woman to ever win Gold in this event.I was fortunate enough to work with the U.S. Surfing Team in Tokyo – it was incredible – all of it.The team dynamics, being able to play a part in representing the United States of America, and to support the four surfers in their competitive pursuits. In this conversation, we discuss some of the ingredients for Carissa to win Gold in Tokyo: the support system she had growing up, her approach to preparing

This week’s conversation is with Chris Capossela, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer and executive vice president of worldwide consumer business.As the chief marketing officer, Chris runs marketing across both the consumer and commercial businesses, which includes marketing for all Microsoft services and products, business planning, brand, advertising, events, communications and research. As leader of the worldwide consumer business, Chris oversees the Consumer Channel Sales and Marketing team, Microsoft Advertising Sales and Microsoft Stores. These teams are responsible for driving revenue, growth and share across the consumer business.Chris joined Microsoft in 1991 as a marketing manager for the Windows Seminar Team. In his 30 years at Microsoft, Chris has held a variety of leadership positions and oversaw the creation of new business opportunities and consumer experiences, including the transition of Microsoft Office on-premises products to Office 365.This conversation is important.Chris is a mo

This week’s conversation is with Jim Nantz, an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the NFL, NCAA Division I men’s basketball, the Olympics, the NBA and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. Jim is an absolute legend in the field.If you’re a sports fan, you know his voice. He has anchored CBS’s coverage of the Masters Tournament since 1989 and been the play-by-play announcer on CBS’s top NFL game since 2004.In this conversation, we discuss how he made his way up through the ranks… how he struggled with anxiety the first two years of his career and how he used deliberate practice, a committed practice of imagery and perspective shifting, to work his way through it.----Please support our partners!We're able to keep growing and creating content for YOU because of their support. We believe in their mission and would appreciate you supporting them in return!!To take advantage of deals from our partners, head to http://www.findingmastery.net/partners wh

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Amishi Jha, a professor of psychology at the University of Miami. She serves as the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, which she co-founded in 2010. Amishi received her Ph.D. from the University of California–Davis and postdoctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University. Her work has been featured at NATO, the World Economic Forum, and The Pentagon. Amishi has received coverage in The New York Times, NPR, TIME, Forbes, and more. Her TED Talk on “How to Tame Your Wandering Mind” has over 5 million views and she is the author of Peak Mind, which came out on October 19th. You can probably guess where this conversation is headed – it’s all about awareness, focus, and how you can train your brain to pay attention more effectively.----Please support our partners!We're able to keep growing and creating content for YOU because of

This week’s conversation is with professional volleyball players and Olympians Alix Klineman and April Ross. Otherwise known as, The A-Team.On August 6 of this year, Alix and April captured the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, after winning in straight sets versus Australia. In the entire tournament, they went undefeated in match play, only losing one set throughout seven matches. Two weeks later, the pair won the AVP Manhattan Beach Open, their second time winning this tournament together.I’ve had the privilege to work with both of them - Alix while she was a member of the USA women’s national team for indoor volleyball and April throughout the 2016 Olympic Quad.It was an absolute joy to watch them come together to grab the gold in Tokyo.In this conversation, we discuss their journey to Gold… the formation of their partnership, their process for building trust, and what goes into performing at their best when the stakes are the highest.----Please support our partners!We're abl

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Gil Blander, an expert in nutrition, biomarker analytics, athletic performance, biochemistry, and aging research.Gil holds numerous patents and has published peer-reviewed articles in these fields. He received his PhD in biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science, and undertook postgraduate research on aging at MIT. Gil is also the Founder and CSO of InsideTracker, a personalized health and performance analytics company created by a team of scientists, physicians, nutritionists and exercise physiologists from MIT, Harvard, and Tufts University.InsideTracker has been a longtime partner of ours and I love the actionable insights I’ve gathered from the personalized data they've provided me to help optimize my health.InsideTracker has been a longtime partner of ours and I love the personalized data and actionable insights they support me with to optimize my health.I wanted to have Gil on to learn more about why he founded InsideTracker and the differenc

This week’s conversation is with trailblazing psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Emotional Intelligence, Dr. Daniel Goleman.Daniel has transformed the way the world educates children, relates to family and friends, and conducts business.Well-known for his work in leadership and education, Daniel is also a distinguished voice in the field of meditation. A meditator since his college days, Daniel spent two years in South Asia, first as a Harvard Predoctoral Traveling Fellow and then again on a Post-Doctoral Fellowship. His first book, The Meditative Mind: The Varieties of Meditative Experience, was written on the basis of that research, offering an overview of various meditation paths.Daniel’s other books include:  A Force for Good: The Dalai Lama’s Vision for Our World and Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain and Body.In this conversation, we discuss his key findings, frameworks, and insights around why emotional intelligenc

This week’s conversation is with Rebecca Rusch, a 7x-world champion in the ultra adventure/endurance realm and a member of the prestigious international Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.Rebecca has been recognized by Outside Magazine among the Top 40 Women Who’ve Made the Biggest Impact and by Men’s Journal as one of the 25 Most Adventurous Women.Known for seeking the toughest challenges imaginable and pushing herself into unknown territory has yielded Rebecca many firsts...Notably, the first female ascent on Yosemite’s 3000-ft. El Capitan Bermuda Dunes route and a first descent river boarding 300 miles of the entire Grand Canyon in 18 winter days.On two wheels, she is the only female competitor to win the iconic Leadville 100 four times and is a two time, first female finisher at the Iditarod Trail Invitational, pedaling 350 self-supported miles through the Alaskan wilderness.  Most recently she completed a previously unattempted North to South route traversing Iceland in winter by fatback alongside Chri